Roll of the Dice
by breakaway-republic
Summary: Jim reluctantly goes along with Aisha to track a dangerous and lucrative bounty after Gene is nowhere to be found.
1. A Roll of the Dice

***Please note- "Outlaw Star" and it's character is copyrighted by Bandai entertainment in addition to a bunch of guys I've never even heard of before. If you're one of them, please don't sue me!!!***   
  


Aisha looked down into the boiling pot. Over the past few weeks she developed a taste for Terran food, especially seafood. The emphasis on traditional Ctarl Ctarl food was mostly on portions and calories, while the Terran food placed a lot of emphasis on taste. Too bad the servings were entirely too small for her high metabolism. Still, she thought she'd try her hand at a few basic recipes. The one time she did serve Ctarl Ctarl food to the Terrans, it didn't go over very well. 

Melfina seemed especially distant this morning. Her human traits were unnoticeable as she silently shuffled about the kitchen in a robot-like fashion, rinsing and drying the dishes from the previous night and putting them away while wearing a forlorn, vacant stare the whole time. 

Gene was nowhere to be found: he either didn't come home at all the other night, or (much less likely) he had left early. Jim was gone too, but he had said something about trying to drum up some business for Starwind and Hawking Enterprises earlier that morning. Not surprisingly, Suzuka was nowhere to be found. Of course, she could be out running a wooden sword through some poor bastard, but sunset was still a few hours away. 

Aisha sensed something was amiss with Mel, but wasn't sure how to tactfully ask what was wrong. Instead, much of the morning was spent in awkward silence between Aisha and Mel until Jim returned with a stack of flyers from a nearby print shop. 

"Where's Gene?" he asked with a hint of urgency in his voice. 

"I don't know Jim, I don't think he came back last night" Mel said 

Aisha took a look at the stack of flyers and asked "What are these for?" 

"Those are some flyers I thought I could distribute and try and find some new customers" Jim explained indifferently as he opened up his little laptop computer. 

"Uh, Jim?" Mel asked "With the pirates still looking for us, do you really think it's a good idea to distribute thousands of pieces paper with our home address on them?". It was the closest thing to sarcasm that the bio-android could muster up. 

"Believe me, Mel, the thought had crossed my mind but I don't think we could afford the anonymity right now." Jim replied as he started typing on his computer. "We need work." 

It was becoming apparent that Jim didn't return to show off the flyers, since he was now diligently going through various databases on his computer. Aisha was looking over his shoulder and saw that it was a directory of fugitives, mercenaries and pirates wanted by the Space Forces. 

"Are you sure Gene didn't come back at all, Mel?" Jim asked hopefully. 

Melfina shook her head no. 

"That's just great- that lech!" He turned his attention back to the screen and enlarged one of the fugitive's profiles. "Dammit, that IS him!". 

"What's going on Jim?" Aisha asked. 

"Radek De La Guerra- a mercenary who's wanted by the Space Forces. I thought I saw his face before, and I saw him this morning. I KNOW I did." he insisted. 

"You don't think the pirates sent him, do you?" 

"I don't know, Aisha. That's why I wanted to see Gene. The bounty on this guy is up to 637,000 Wong." 

Aisha blinked. Jim could almost hear the wheels turning in her head and realized it was a big mistake to blurt out statistics like that in front of her. 

"Forget it Aisha!" 

"What?! Even if the bounty is split 4 ways, it's still a lot of money." she said defensively. 

"It could be a trap set by the pirates for all we know." 

"So what? I'm not scared. If what you just said is true, that's way too much money to let somebody else collect. How can it not be worth the risk?" She paused for a second. "I see. You don't trust Aisha, do you?" 

"No, it's not that...." 

"Then what is it? You think I'm not up to the task?" 

"No! It's just that......Well, I've never done this sort of thing without Gene before. If I did it would feel kinda like I'm betraying him somehow." 

This gave Aisha pause. "Look, Jim. That's very admirable, but I think Gene would appreciate that kind of money as much as any one of us. I'm sure his ego will recover, if that's what you're worried about" 

Persuasive was not one of the adjectives Jim would have used to describe the exiled Ctarl Ctarl looking down thoughtfully at him, but she had a good point. He thought about it for a moment before breaking down. He showed her De La Guerra's wanted profile, some of the communications gear that he and Gene often used in addition to some of the optics that Jim used to help spot any traps or helpers that their quarry back on Sentinel would use. There was a wide array of pistols, rifles, submachineguns, knives, light shields and grenades also available, but Aisha scoffed at such "toys". The only item she opted to use was the miniature 2-way radio that could be worn as an earring, although it took a few minutes to get her ears to stop involuntarily twitching and clip it into place. 

Melfina had turned off Aisha's boiling pot, which Aisha immediately forgot at the mention of 637,000 Wong, and now was looking a little bit distressed at the sight of all this. 

"Uhhh...what should I tell Gene if he comes back while you two are gone?" 

"Just tell him we went out to make some money" Jim said. 

"OK. Please be careful." 

"No need to worry Mel" Aisha said, tousling Jim's hair "Jim's in good hands" 

Jim pretended not to like that and made a feeble attempt to pull away while letting out a half-hearted "Quit it..." 

Aisha slipped into her tatty gray cloak. "Come on Jim- Aisha wants to go hunting!"   
  


Radek De La Guerra wasn't behaving like a typical fugitive. Maybe that's because he was a compulsive gambler who was actually winning. Jim had plenty of time on the way over to give Aisha the vital stats about their quarry. He liked cards and dice more than he did women and booze, so it was no big surprise that he would be found at a casino. And that's where Jim- almost literally- bumped into him that morning on his way to the print shop. Jim saw that he was on his way to the craps table and remembered his face from some wanted posters he saw on Sentinel. Apparently was winning big time in the time that Jim had returned to the offices. While on the way to the casino where Jim last saw Radek, Aisha boosted Jim onto the fire escape of the building across the street from the glass-and-steel casino where he would attempt to view the goings-on from the rooftop. Unfortunately, Heiphong was nothing like wide open terrain of Sentinel and Jim could barely see past the casino's lobby from the rooftop. As for Aisha, it didn't take her too long to find Radek once she stepped into the casino. He was the fellow at the craps table with the dice and big pile of Wong, casino chips and even some Dragonite in front of him. He was doing very well for a man who had stepped into the casino with just under 300 Wong to his name, and of course he drew a large crowd of onlookers. Aisha half-seriously wondered if Suzu was in the building anywhere. 

Radek was largely oblivious to the crowd gathered around him, and for a man with such large winnings, he certainly wasn't showing much emotion. He was clad in some work trousers, a shirt and, not unlike Aisha, a somewhat grimy cloak/trenchcoat. Aisha observed her quarry from across the casino floor- he probably was handsome- at least for a Terran- at one time, but countless late nights of boozing, cards, dice and life on the run had caught up to him with a vengeance. If she didn't know any better, it looked like he was attempting to have an intimate conversation with the dice. Adjusting her cloak and hood, Aisha decided to make her move and waded into the crowd of spectators. 

"Radek De La Guerra?" She asked, placing her hand firmly on his shoulder. 

For a moment, he said nothing. Then he slowly turned his head and asked "Who wants to know?" 

"I understand you like games of chance...." Aisha said with a confident smirk. 

"Forget it, sweetie. I'm not buying what you're selling." 

"I've come to offer you the ultimate game of chance." she asked 

That seemed to grab his attention. "I see. And what are the stakes?" 

Aisha pulled off her hood and declared "The name of the game is "Mortal Combat with a Ctarl Ctarl", and the prize is your life!" 

There was a collective gasp from the crowd and they started to slowly pull back, as if any sudden movement could provoke Aisha. Some of them still remembered the Ctarl Ctarl contestant in the Universal Strongman Competition who maimed her opponent and about half the spectators in the Coliseum a few years back. Through the earring/radio, Aisha could hear Jim groan in dismay and ask "What the hell are you doing Aisha?!?". She paid him no mind. 

Radek blinked and eyed Aisha as she got into a fighting stance. "A Ctarl Ctarl? I'm impressed. I have to say, I haven't seen one of your kind before." He paused. "I tell you what, I'll let you have the first shot." 

Aisha didn't expect this at all. He didn't even take a step backwards, and instead was letting her take the first shot. What was he up to? There was no way he could out-muscle her. What was he hiding? For a few seconds, she stared at him, dumbfounded. Did he underestimate Aisha's strength that much? 

He seemed disappointed that Aisha didn't attack right away, and instead started goading Aisha. "Come on, little lady! I thought you were a big bad Ctarl Ctarl". He puckered his lips and made kissing noises at her. 

That seemed to be the right button for him to push, as Aisha left her fighting stance and closed the distance between herself and Radek with blinding speed. Just before she reached him, she saw him flick something on his wrist. She let loose a series of vicious punches and kicks, but it took her a few seconds to realize that they weren't connecting, but were instead bouncing off a shimmering, translucent white light just millimeters from Radek's face. He wasn't even flinching. That bastard has himself a light shield, she said to herself. 

By this time the crowd, which was trying to remain calm, had panicked and stampeded for the nearest exit. Aisha took a few steps back, eyeing Radek with a hateful gaze. 

"Cute toy." She said "but how long do you think it's going to protect you from me?" 

"Long enough. You see, that's not all it can do...." He twisted a dial on the shield 

No sooner had he said that then Aisha flew backwards and crashed into a slot machine, both of which collapsed on the floor. It felt like she was pulled from behind somehow. 

"Try and understand, this is top of the line." He pointed to the shield on his wrist and was beaming with pride."It comes equipped with a pulse generator. Instead of deflecting projectiles as they approach me, it can knock down projectiles and even assailants from a distance. Pretty neat, huh? This thing could knock down a whole platoon of Space Forces Rangers if I needed it to." 

Aisha was in pain from the impact and landing awkwardly on the floor with the slot machine, but she decided to put on her game face and got back into a fighting stance. Radek simply laughed at this. 

"I can keep this up all day." 

She effortlessly picked up the slot machine that she crashed into and threw it at him. It bounced off of the shield and broke into a mess of springs, levers, electrons and Wong coins. She saw him pull out a slide-action grenade launcher from his overcoat. 

"My biggest winning streak ever! Ruined by a stupid fucking animal like you!" He wasn't laughing anymore. Instead, he leveled the grenade launcher at her. Aisha thought about charging him again. She reasoned that he couldn't actually fire the weapon while his light shield was working- otherwise he'd probably blow himself up. Instead, she took 2 steps backwards and dove for cover behind the row of other slot machines. The round impacted with the slot machine that she was standing in front of no more than a half second ago and sent a red-hot shower of shrapnel, springs, screws, levers and coins all over the front of the casino with a deafening explosion. Aisha remained on the floor tried to figure out what to do next while the ringing in her ears went away. Except she could've sworn the ringing was actually saying "Holy shit! What just happened! Aisha?!? Can you hear me? I can't see anything." 

It was Jim, on the other end of the radio...... 

"AISHA!!!!!!" 

She cringed, since the boy's yelling into the radio wasn't helping the ringing in her ears go away. "I"m fine." She reassured him. "This asshole thinks he can delay the inevitable with some of his little toys." 

No sooner had she said that then she heard Radek rack another round into the chamber of the grenade launcher. She was on her feet and running, her and her Radek now separated by a row of slot machines. The one she was using for cover while talking to Jim blew up as another grenade was fired into it. Radek was shooting at the slot machines one by one in an attempt to flush Aisha out and rain down some killer shrapnel on her in the process. So far, because of her thick skin, the shrapnel was doing little more than putting more holes in her grey cloak, but Aisha kept moving and did her best to cover her eyes. There was a good chance she would be blinded if any shrapnel hit her eyes and she didn't want to take a direct hit from one of the grenades, remembering what happened to her when she was shot by Gene's Caster. 

"I was on my way to breaking the bank, you stupid bitch! Do you know how long I've DREAMED of doing that?" He racked another round into the grenade launcher's chamber, and then decided to change the subject. "An immortal Ctarl Ctarl? I don't buy that. Everybody's gotta go sometime, and it looks like today is your day. I wonder what would happen if I SHOT YOU IN THE FACE POINT BLANK WITH THIS?!?!?!?" He fired off another round and once again, and Aisha was pelted with flying debris. "Looks like I'll find out. Maybe it won't kill you outright, but you sure are gonna regret starting shit with me." Radek mused. 

Aisha caught a glimpse of Radek's position in one of the overhead mirrors above the casino floor- he hadn't moved very far from the table. She was too far away from him to close the distance to him without him getting some shots off. Even if he ran out of ammunition, there was still the light shield. 

No sooner had she thought that than she heard a dry *clickclickclick* coming from his position- He did run out of ammo. She got up and sprinted past the slot machines to the other end of the craps table and crouched beneath it. 

"Running and hiding? What happened to that sweet young thing that challenged me to "The Ultimate Game of Chance" a few minutes ago?" He called out as he started reloading. 

"Heads up Jim, he should be coming your way in a minute" she whispered 

Instead of coming out from behind the table, Aisha began lifting up her end. Radek was busy reloading and didn't notice this until the casino chips, Wong and dice started sliding down towards his end of the table. 

"Oh Shit...." he said softly as he realized what Aisha was trying to do. The table was now at a perfect 45 degree angle, with a thick layer of wood reenforced with steel separating himself from the Ctarl Ctarl. If he fired a grenade off, there was a good chance it would ricochet before detonating and he would just blow himself up. There wasn't much room to run around it, and even if he did squeeze by, he would be face to face with one pissed off Ctarl Ctarl. He could always try and scoop up as much of his winnings as possible before running off or..... 

Using the light shield never occurred to him until it was too late, since Aisha was now shoving the table forward while still keeping it at a 45 degree angle. He took a few steps backwards and found himself pinned between the table and the glass window at street level. Aisha gave the tilted craps table another hearty shove, and sure enough the casino's glass window gave way, sending Radek sprawling out to the sidewalk on top of a pile of broken glass. Half of the table was now out on the sidewalk as well. Aisha jumped atop the table, walked across it, knocking aside the broken glass that was in her way and stood at the opposite end of the table, staring down at De La Guerra on the sidewalk. The look in her eyes spoke volumes on the slow and painful demise she was capable of inflicting on him. Radek didn't notice her at first, as he was still on the ground rubbing his head and checking himself for cuts, of which there were plenty. He let out a startled yelp, and purely out of desperation fumbled with the still-functioning light shield on his wrist. Through some fluke, he was able to generate another pulse, which although not as strong as the first one, knocked Aisha back a few paces and off her feet. Slowly but surely he was getting his composure back as he clumsily scooped up his grenade launcher, a few odd rounds and some chunks of dragonite that fell off of the table. He got to his feet, deftly pulled a capsule-shaped grenade from his pocket, pulled the pin and tossed it in her direction. Aisha got to her feet just in time to get a faceful of white smoke from the grenade. 

Radek was off and running as the smoke grenade went off, blindly sprinting across the street. Almost as quickly as the smoke had appeared, it began to dissipate, and Aisha was left standing atop the table, rubbing her eyes and coughing. She was now very angry with herself for letting 637,000 Wong get away so easily- but then she remembered her earring. 

"Jim? Can you see him?" She asked. 

"Yeah! He took off straight ahead..." 

By now, a crowd of onlookers had gathered on the sidewalk and were gawking at the odd scene in front of the casino. Aisha swiftly leapt over them and onto the hood of a car parked in front of the casino. Then, almost like a frog hopping across a pond using lilly pads, Aisha leapt across the street using the hoods and roofs of all the cars that were now stopped or slowing down to try and get a look at what had just happened at the casino. 

Once on the other side of the street, she still didn't see De La Guerra. 

"I don't see him. Where is he now?" 

"He just turned down a blind alley. Go straight and it will be the first one on your left." 

"And there's no way out?" Aisha asked as she began following Jim's directions. 

"I don't think so.....wait!" there was a pause from Jim's end "I lost sight of him for a second. He's right under me now. It looks like he's reloading." 

Aisha began sprinting at the mention of this. 

"Careful Aisha! I think he's up to something....I've got a bad feeling" 

"Of course he's up to something. It's because he's cornered" Aisha said with her characteristic bravado as she rounded the corner of the alley. 

Sure enough, there was Radek standing in the alley with his back to her. He was frantically trying to reload his grenade launcher. Aisha said nothing as she threw off her cloak and charged him from behind. As she leapt to tackle him, her intuition told her that his was entirely too easy, but it was too late- She had committed herself. However, her intuition was right. Instead of tackling him, she simply passed through a motion-hologram of De La Guerra that was displaying a perpetual loop of him reloading a grenade launcher. Aisha landed headfirst in a pile of garbage bags. The real Radek, complete with a real grenade launcher, stepped out from a shadowy doorway in the alley, right next to the garbage where she had landed. Aisha felt hot gunmetal pressed into her cheek. He was standing triumphantly over her with the loaded grenade launcher held in one hand. 

"Holo-cube" he explained. "It's usually used to bait a sniper into taking a few shots and giving away his position, but in your case it worked beautifully. I still didn't get to break the bank, but it looks like I'll get my other wish today." 

"It's been fun...." he said with a smirk. 

"AISHA!!!!" Jim frantically yelled out from the roof. Radek hesitated on pulling the trigger for a moment to look up and see who was yelling. While he was briefly distracted, Aisha seized that golden opportunity and grabbed the barrel of the grenade launcher, pushing it up and away from her face. Radek pulled the trigger anyways. 

Instead of detonating immediately, the round ricocheted off of the walls of the alley for a few seconds before exploding. This gave Radek just enough time to switch on his light shield and prevent himself from being riddled by shrapnel with his own weapon. Jim flinched and dove for cover. Aisha flew backwards into the wall at the very end of the alley and then went limp. Radek stood with his arms covering his face, blindly hoping that there was enough power left in the light shield to save him. 

Jim saw Aisha's body go flying before it was lost in the smoke from the blast and he assumed the worst. He lost his composure and picked up the elderly Glock he usually had with him on jobs like this. Radek was 4 stories beneath him and Jim saw that his light shield had used up all of it's power shielding him from that blast. He tossed the shield to the ground. 

"AIIIIISHAAAA!!!!" Jim yelled. Radek paid him no mind, since for the time being he was more concerned about the ringing in his ears and checking himself for shrapnel. When Jim didn't get an immediate answer, he slid over the ledge of the building, grabbed onto a pipe that was running vertically up the side of the building, leveled his pistol and started sliding down. 

"ASSHOLE!" he yelled at Radek. He lined De La Guerra up in his sights and squeezed the trigger. A bullet whizzed by Radek's head, and the angry boy with the pistol sliding down the side of the building now had his undivided attention. 

Unfortunately, sliding down a tall building and the combination of adrenaline, rage, sadness and remorse that Jim was feeling was not helping with his accuracy. He kept his pistol leveled at roughly where Radek was standing and squeezed off four more shots. His eyes were starting to get clouded by tears of helpless rage, and multiple Radeks appeared. 

Radek couldn't believe it. He survived an attack from a fierce Ctarl Ctarl and his own grenades, only to be ambushed by some little punk kid. It dawned on him that the boy and the Ctarl Ctarl must have been working together, and had the sense to keep moving. He lost his grenade launcher in the blast, but that didn't mean that he was unarmed. The boy fired off more shots at him as Radek pulled a machine pistol from his overcoat. He fired a burst of 3 or 4 rounds at Jim. The boy fell off the side of the building and his body hit the ground with a sickening thud.   
  


Aisha remembered the explosion. She had survived it OK, but was starting to black out. She heard Jim cry out her name, a flurry of gunshots and then something that she could never forget before. As Jim ran out of ammunition, she saw Leilong close in on the boy with alarming speed, the wicked gleam of Leilong's knife, a swift slashing move, some blood in the air and then Jim hitting the ground. Suzu said something and then an all-enveloping darkness....Except she wasn't at Monkoku Hill, and Leilong was long dead. She was sure that she was imagining things again. But once she opened her eyes, she was filled with the same sense of dread as when Leilong knifed poor Jim. She saw him attempting to slide down the building, firing a pistol along the way. De La Guerra was still armed and returned fire. As Jim made his way down the building, Radek continued firing, Jim fell, and Aisha winced. He can't be dead, not after all the poor kid had been through. It wasn't possible...it wasn't right.   
  


Radek's shots had missed Jim, but one of the bullets slammed into the vertical pipe he was holding onto, just a fraction of an inch above his fingers, causing Jim involuntarily let go and fell down. There was a separate pile of garbage that he landed on before bouncing off of it and landing in the alley- almost at Radek's feet. He was painfully aware that he had lost his grip on the pistol during the fall and heard it clatter to the ground somewhere behind him. Radek was a little bit surprised that the boy was still alive. He let out a little chuckle. 

"Dammit kid, you've got nine lives" he said with a sort of grudging admiration as he leveled the pistol. "I gotta admit, you and the cat woman were pretty good, but it's over. I really hate to do this....". The thing was, he really did hate to do it. Killing kids, even if they did shoot at him, was not his style. Besides he could use somebody as resourceful as the kid when he went into the casinos and gambling halls- telegraphing signals, spotting marked cards from the dealers and so on. As he was pondering the ways a boy like Jim could help increase his winnings, he was aware of movement to his side.   
  


Jim closed his eyes and heard another burst of shots from Radek's machine pistol. He was dead, and this must be the afterlife. It was funny- He thought he'd live a little bit longer, and he also thought that getting shot would hurt a little bit more. Where were the bright lights? Somebody had scooped him up and was holding onto him tightly as they were moving. Such soft skin for such a tight grip. Was it an angel? He reluctantly opened his eyes and realized that his face was pretty much buried in Aisha's barely concealed chest. Jim let out a little yelp that was borne of a mixture of surprise, relief and being caught in a very awkward position. This wasn't the afterlife, the 2 of them were still in that stinking alley with that psycho gambler. Somewhere along the way, she had shed her green scarf and the leather panels that she often wore. There were more gunshots, but Jim was transfixed by the copious jiggling of Aisha's cleavage and quite thankful for his front row view. In the back of his mind he realized that she must have put herself between Radek and him and was carrying him to safety. Aisha set him down in the same doorway De La Guerra had hid in earlier, since it would offer the boy some degree of protection. 

"What the hell were you doing?!" She asked in a sharp scolding tone, largely unaware of the faceful she just provided Jim "You could've gotten yourself killed" 

Jim was too flummoxed to provide and answer or even argue. Instead, he found himself wondering how skin that could deflect knives, bullets and grenades be so soft, feminine and alluring. His sadness, rage, fear and helplessness had melted away into joy, relief and more than a little embarrassment. She was crouched in the doorway next to him. 

"Just stay here, Jim. I'm going to go finish this." He wanted to tell her to be careful, but by the time the words would have came out, all he saw was a 3ft. white-haired braid with a golden ring streaking down the alley. By the time Jim snapped out of his reverie, he was aware of one final burst of shots from Radek's pistol, followed by the fugitive's swearing, gunmetal clattering on the pavement of the alley, Aisha's beast-like scream, a series of punches and kicks landing, and then some bones breaking. Jim stepped out from behind the doorway and saw that Aisha was still pounding the now battered, bloodied and mostly dead bounty. Jim ran up to her. 

"Aisha! Stop it!" he tugged at her arm as she pulled it back to continue pummeling De La Guerra. "We can't collect the bounty if they can't identify the body!" 

Aisha stopped pummeling Radek's corpse for a moment and looked at Jim. Her facial expression changed from triumph to concern as she regarded the boy. 

"Jim- you're bleeding", she pointed to the boy's forehead. 

He wiped at some blood that was trickling down his forehead. "Well, I just fell off the side of a 4 story building. I guess I couldn't come away from that without at least a few scratches." He blinked in surprise."You're bleeding, too." 

The sides and some parts on the front of Aisha's dress was riddled with tiny holes from the shrapnel, although nothing more scandalous than her belly button was really exposed. Beneath these tiny holes were some scratches and welts, some of which were bleeding. Jim saw that beneath her braid, there were 3 large holes in her dress that were running down her back, the edge of each hole ringed with powder burns and displaying a very nasty looking welt. He realized that Radek must have shot her in the back at point-blank with his pistol. She probably threw himself right in front of him as he pulled the trigger. Jim shuddered, thinking about what could have happened if she was a second slower. For a Ctarl Ctarl, getting shot must be similar to getting beaned with a baseball- it won't neccecarily kill them, but it could still hurt plenty. 

She looked down at some of the scratches and then smiled at the boy. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it." 

Aisha went to the back of the alley to retrieve her scarf, cloak and the leather panels. Then she picked up Radek's corpse and flung it over her shoulder like a sack of flour. She was about ready to walk off when Jim spoke up. 

"Hey, look Aisha!" 

She turned around and the boy was holding a chunk of dragonite. Her eyes widened. 

"Where did you get that?" 

"It must have fell out of his pocket" he said, pointing to the corpse. 

They both were thinking the same thing as she placed his corpse back on the ground. Jim opened up Radek's overcoat. There were 2 more pistols, a short-barreled shotgun, some smoke grenades and a few hundred Wong kept in the jacket. Jim relieved the late Mr. De La Guerra of those possessions before scouring the alley for the holo-cube. That was definitely something that he and Gene might be able to use in the future. Aisha was still looking at the dragonite, her mouth watering. She couldn't help but think of how much groceries she could buy with that. Then she let out a sigh of despair. 

"What is it Aisha?" 

" I was raised to understand that stealing from the dead is wrong, even if it is just a Terran...." she pouted. 

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm the one that's doing the stealing. Besides, he did try to kill us" he looked down at the ground in front of him and said "Ah! There you are", picking up the holo-cube. "Besides. I don't think he'll be needing these anymore..." He bundled up his newfound contraband. 

Aisha donned her panels, scarf and cloak while she waited for Jim. He clambered back up the fire escape to the roof so he could retrieve the optics and communications gear he brought out with him, and then bundled up the items he took from Radek as well as his antique Glock. Then they headed for the nearest police station so that they could collect their bounty.   
  


Tact was never one of Aisha's strong points, Jim reminded himself as Aisha slammed Radek's corpse onto the top of the police sergeant's desk. The startled officer looked up as Aisha loudly proclaimed "I'm Aisha Clan Clan and I'm here to collect the bounty on this pathetic Terran!". Jim remained a few steps behind her out of sheer embarrassment. 

"I see...and who is this exactly?" the policeman nervously inquired. 

"He calls himself Radek De La Guerra, and he didn't put up much of a fight when he realized his silly little toys weren't any use against an immortal Ctarl" She smugly declared. Modesty wasn't one of her strong points either, Jim reminded himself. 

Suddenly, an effete man in an expensive suit who was filling out a report with another police officer away from a few desks away from Aisha stood up and pointed at her, yelling "THAT'S HER!!! That's the beast that trashed my establishment and attacked one of our patrons this morning! It's her!!! OFFICERS!!!! ARREST THAT BEAST!!!!" 

"Oh no....." Aisha whimpered as she was now surrounded by dozens of police officers with a variety of weapons drawn and trained on her. Resisting arrest would be somewhat futile, since she had burned plenty of calories while pursuing De La Guerra. Even if she did escape, there would probably be a bounty on her and she would have no place to go.   
  


"THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!!!! I'M ONE OF THE PROUD CTARL CTARL!!!!" Aisha shrieked as the door to her jail cell slammed shut with a loud *clang*.   
  


TO BE CONTINUED................   
  
  
  


  
  


  
  



	2. A Fistful of Wong

  
  


**I've said it once, I might as well say it again. Outlaw Star belongs to a bunch of people who work for Bandai, Sunrise and Sotsu Agencies, and they all could afford fancy expensive lawyers more than me. I'm not taking credit for their creations, just trying to have a little fun with 'em**   
  
  
  


Confinement didn't suit Aisha Clan Clan as she was running out of things to do. A few minutes after the guard left, her cellmate sat down next to her on the bench, slid her arm around Aisha and started to whisper in her ear "Hey Kitty.....". Aisha expressed her disapproval through a single blow to her face and as a result, her cellmate remained facedown and unconscious on the floor well into the afternoon. Between the memories of her sparsely furnished dormitory at the academy, her quarters on board the Orta Hone-Hone, the cabin of the XGP15A2, her 1-room apartment and her present accommodations, Aisha was feeling a bit claustrophobic. A few hours after pondering the enclosed spaces in her life, she heard the guard opening the door to the cellblock accompanied by a familiar voice. 

"Boy- you sure know how to make friends and influence people" Jim said curtly as he looked into Aisha's cell and saw her unconscious cellmate. 

"Hi Jim" she said sheepishly. 

The guard opened the door to her cell. "You're free to go." He said in a matter-of-fact tone, paying no attention to the unconscious figure sprawled out on the floor of the cell. 

Aisha stepped out cautiously, as though any sudden movements on her part would cause to guard to slam the door shut and yell out "Just kidding!". She remained noticeably silent until she and Jim were on the front steps of the police station. 

"Thanks for bailing me out, Jim." 

"I had to- they wouldn't give me the bounty until I posted your bail....." 

Aisha's eyes widened a bit- she had almost forgotten about the bounty. She was about to ask how much her take was when Jim continued. 

".....we also couldn't collect on the bounty until I agreed to pay damages to the manager of the casino you trashed." 

"Huh? So how much did we get?" 

"One thousand seven hundred and forty-nine Wong..." 

"Each?" 

"Grand total...." 

"WHAT?! What about the dragonite?" she asked. 

"That went to pay your bail." 

"rrrrrRRRRROW!" Aisha growled as she smacked the wall of the police station she was leaning up against with a balled-up fist. A spiderweb of cracks and a fist-shaped dent appeared in the concrete wall. Jim nervously took a step back as she adjusted her cloak. 

"Don't kill the messenger!" Jim said. He started nervously scratching his back. She probably didn't want to hear about how he had talked the desk sergeant into letting him keep the weapons he had relieved off of De la Guerra. "If it makes you feel any better," he continued "as soon as that guy from the casino got our money, they arrested him for harboring a fugitive and confiscated the money. So it's gone full circle!" 

It didn't make Aisha feel any better, but she did enjoy the irony a little. 

"I've got an idea" she said and started walking away from the police station and hailed a taxi.   
  


"Tell me again what we're doing here" Jim asked as they strode through the front gate of the Heiphong Downs Racetrack. 

"Simple- we're trying to increase our earnings. Suzu told me about this place. Besides, I don't think that the casinos here will be rolling out the red carpet for me anytime soon". 

"Huh? Playing the ponies? No way! I don't think that's such a good idea Aisha." 

"Shush Jim. Maybe it's a good idea, maybe it isn't. There's no way of knowing unless we actually try now, is there?" 

Jim was not convinced. "WE? Uh-uh" he said, shaking his head "You're not getting Wong one from me." 

"Fine" she said huffily as she grabbed a racing form and started going through it. "We Ctarl Ctarls have a saying- 'Life never rewards the timid, it only tolerates them'..." Jim's attention was starting to wander until Aisha let out a loud, gleeful squeal. 

"AAAAH! HAHAHA! This is PERFECT!" She giggled, shoving the form in Jim's face. Jim took a step back to read it, but Aisha wasn't keeping it still. He grabbed the form from her and started reading, trying to figure out what got her so worked up. Aisha was looking over his shoulder and tapped a slender finger on a name of one of the horses. There in the third race.... 

"Genius James?" Jim asked 

Aisha nodded enthusiastically. 

"But Aisha, the odds on him are 72 to 1." 

"C'mon Jim- it's an sign!" 

"Yeah, an expensive one." Jim said dismissively 

"You have no sense of adventure" She said as the 2 of them got into the line so that Aisha could place her wager on Genius James. 

There were a few people milling around in the stands and waiting in line to place their bets, but the majority of the gambling took place at the various state-sanctioned and illegal off track betting parlors in this day and age. Of course, there were enough people around at Heiphong Downs for Jim to be embarrassed if Aisha started acting up. 

"800 Wong on Genius James in the third!" 

"What?! Aisha? Are you out of your mind!?" He reached up and smacked her hand as she was about to hand the clerk almost her entire share of the bounty. 

"Why? Just because I have a little faith in an underdog named James?" 

"800 wong is more than a LITTLE faith." 

Aisha sighed and started rubbing the bridge of her nose, trying for her best put-upon "woe-is-me" pose. She peeled the top three 100 Wong Bills from the stack of money and tucked them back into her cloak. "FIVE hundred wong on Genius James in the third...." 

Jim stepped up and handed Aisha a 50 Wong bill. She wore a puzzled expression on her face as she regarded the boy. He motioned for her to return to the counter. 

"Five hundred and Fifty wong on Genius James in the third."   
  


Aisha was impatient for the 3rd race to start, and she let the rest of those in the stands at Heiphong Downs know it. 

"Hurry up you stupid horses, or I swear I'll eat you!" She yelled out "I MEAN IT!!!" 

Of course, Jim was almost mortified beyond words. By the time 2nd races were underway, Aisha was quietly deciding which Terran side dishes could best be served with roast thoroughbred. It sounded like she was leaning towards potatoes au gratin once the 3rd race was ready to start. Jim gently elbowed her so that they could listen to the announcer. 

As the gates flew open and the starting bell rang, the thunder of hooves could be felt from way up in the stands. Genius James bolted up one of the outside lanes- off to slow start but quickly gaining ground on the leader- Impasse. Aisha and Jim were on their feet cheering as loud as they could. Impasse and Genius James broke away from the rest of the pack and crossed the finish line almost simultaneously. The Ctarl Ctarl and the boy were jumping for joy and high-fiving each other for a few seconds. Aisha's mood changed dramatically the results of the photo finish were displayed on the racetrack's jumbotron. Impasse was the winner by a nose. 

"DAMMIT!" she yelled as loud as she could 

Aisha seethed for a few seconds before letting out one of her primal screams and bringing both fists crashing down on the flimsy wooden railing. It disappeared in an explosion of splinters and she sat down again and hung her head. Her face was no longer visible, it was now concealed behind a veil of dangling white hair. Jim realized that this was not the time or place to say "I told you so". 

"Are....are you OK?" he asked 

She looked up at him- she was now eerily chipper and smiling. "I'm fine. I guess you can't win them all". She stretched and leaned back in her seat, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I shoulda known there's only ONE Genius James" 

"Well, it was pretty close. It had me going for a second there" 

"Yeah, me too...What do you say we go and get something to eat before we lose any more money here?" 

"You're not going to go and eat that horse, are you?" 

"Of course not.......today"   
  


Ancient Ctarl Ctarl text spoke of a modest baker's home in the city of Nabay Tuva-Tuva. As a war broke out, the city was laid siege. The baker's only son was conscripted in the army and was killed in battle, his wife fell ill and passed away during the siege and shortly after her death the baker was falsely accused of treason and imprisoned. The baker spent his remaining days in prison, yet his home remained standing and unoccupied. After the death of the modest and righteous baker, Nabay Tuva-Tuva was plagued by famine, floods, earthquakes and more sieges until all that remained of the once-great city was his home, with its 4 walls and roof intact. 

That was one of the first things Aisha remembered studying at the academy. In the back of her mind, she always questioned whether or not the baker's home was still standing or if it even existed in the first place. It annoyed her instructors to no end when she repeatedly suggested the class took a field trip to the site of Nabay Tuva-Tuva. Perhaps it might have been a metaphor for both the internal and external struggles of the Ctarl Ctarl Empire, and nothing more. She gazed thoughtfully at her young friend and realized that Jim wasn't all that different from the baker's home mentioned in the ancient text. Both had been through a lot of turmoil, both from outside and within, yet both came out of it relatively unscathed. Of course, the house had a few centuries' head-start on Jim. The boy was something of a mystery to her. She grown up fairly happily with her family. Intuition told her that Gene had grown up with a loving family member, as Suzu probably did- although she imagined that was cut short for both of them. But she still couldn't figure out Jim. As far as she knew, Gene Starwind might be the closest thing to family that Jim ever had. She had so many questions for him, but at the same time knew it might be counterproductive to ask him about his past. 

"What is it Aisha?" Jim asked. The boy was staring back at her. 

"Oh...uhhh...nothing." she figured he didn't want to hear about some boring passage from ancient Ctarl Ctarl text that schoolchildren on her homeworld would be studying from now until the end of time and it probably wasn't the best time to start asking intrusive questions for the sake of conversation. 

How could a boy who was spending his formative years around the likes of Gene Starwind manage to be so industrious and good-natured? Not that she was the shining example of diligence and hard work. She let out a small chuckle- Gene had been providing Jim with valuable lessons on what he ~shouldn't~ be doing, and Jim was a very quick learner! 

After coming from the racetrack, they were leisurely walking through Zhukov Park in Central Heiphong. There were some food stalls at the western entrance to the park and Aisha was especially hungry since she had skipped breakfast and burned up plenty of calories in pursuit of her bounty earlier. The 2 of them agreed on ice-cream, although Aisha felt it was necessary to check around the stand for mind-controlling cactuses. 

Jim continued staring at Aisha. The Ctarl Ctarl had entered a life-or-death fight with no weapons of her own against a dangerous man armed with a machine pistol and grenade launcher, and came out with only a few scratches and bruises. Yet he was now witnessing the most enviable of her traits- this was her 6th ice-cream cone in 5 minutes and absolutely no sign of the dreaded "brain-freeze". She had 7 altogether, as well as a bottle of soy sauce to wash it all down. Jim was a little bit grateful that she was wearing her cloak. After what happened in the alley, he was afraid that he'd be unable to remove his eyes from her cleavage, but the grey cloak solved that problem for him. Still, he was a little worried. Did this mean that he was destined to be a lech just like Gene? 

After "lunch", the 2 of them sat down on a sunny knoll overlooking the vast expanse of park. Aisha removed her tattered cloak and used it as a blanket. In an open area off in the distance, about a dozen or so kids Jim's age were playing soccer. After briefly watching the game from a distance, Aisha was lying on her back looking at the white clouds lazily drifting by- she spotted one that looked like a fish and another that sort of looked like the Orta Hone-Hone if it had came in second-best after a collision with a meteor. Jim was pensively trying to figure out what he should do with his share of the bounty- utilities, rent, dock fees, maintenance on Gilliam- when he felt his hair being tousled. 

"Clan Clan and Hawking Enterprises- how does that sound?" she asked with a broad grin. 

"You're not serious, are you?" 

"Well, why not?" She obviously wasn't serious, but paused for a moment. Jim thought she might have been watching the soccer game but there might have been something beyond that which grabbed her attention. "Hey Jim, how much of your bounty do you have left?" 

The boy pulled the wad of cash from his pocket and started counting "....740, 760- just under 800 Wong". 

Aisha snatched the money from the boy's hands, scooped up her cloak and took off running. 

"What the hell are you doing, Aisha?" Jim yelled as he got up. With his short legs, there was no way he could keep up with her, but he took off anyway. "Dammit Aisha! This isn't funny". 

"C'mon Jim!" he heard her yell over her shoulder. He didn't notice the playful tone in her voice. 

She ran out of the eastern gate of the park and across the street. Every now and then, she would stop and turn around to make sure that he was still behind her before resuming her running. Finally, she stopped in front of the arcade that she had spotted from the park. Not a bad place for the two of them to while away the afternoon, she thought. But Aisha felt that after all that money she lost at the track, Jim would be even more tight-fisted with his share of the money. 

As a breathless and very angry Jim Hawking finally caught up with her, she held the Wong that he was counting earlier up over her head, well out of his reach. Aisha was about to point out the arcade and give the money back to him when Jim did something she didn't expect. 

"WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM YOU STUPID BITCH?!?" He screamed. Aisha recoiled at this. "I'M SO SICK OF YOUR SHIT- GIVE ME MY DAMN MONEY!!" 

"But Jim, I wanted to show-" Aisha started to say.... 

"ARE YOU DEAF OR SOMETHING? WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO TAKE MY MONEY LIKE THAT?" the boy yelled. She had never seen Jim this agitated before- at least towards her- and all she could do was blink in surprise. People on the sidewalk now stopped and turned around to watch the spectacle unfold. Before she could hand him back his money, Jim gave her a swift kick in the shins and stomped off angrily. Aisha was too stunned to do anything except watch the boy walk away.   
  


Jim was sitting on the wall outside the park. What had gotten into her? Most of the time he didn't mind Aisha's quirks and odd behavior, he even enjoyed it from time to time, but playing "keep-away" with his hard earned share of the money crossed the line. He was still fuming and looking straight down at the ground when Aisha caught up with him. There was a long awkward silence. 

"I hope you didn't expect an apology" he said sullenly. 

"No, I don't. I thought I'd give you this" she held out the money. Jim snatched it out of her hands and said nothing. Aisha climbed up on the wall and sat next to him. "You know, when I was your age I hardly ever had the chance to go out. My parents insisted I study very hard each night so that I could get into one of the prestigious academies that they had graduated from." 

Jim was still staring at the ground. 

"What do you plan on spending your part of the bounty on? Rent? Advertising? Maintainence? Utilities? Software?" she asked. 

"Why the hell should you care?" 

"Jim- I think you'll have the rest of your life to fret over bills and bookkeeping. Don't you think you're a little bit too young to be handling this sort of work on your own?" 

He glared at her "Why do you keep treating me like a kid?" 

"You are a kid. It's probably not what you want to hear, but Jim, you'll never be eleven again! You'll be a young man worrying about guns and computers and money soon enough. Don't you think you should take some time and enjoy your life? Don't you think you're entitled to do that?" 

Jim had dropped his angry-kid routine and was now earnestly looking at Aisha. "But if I don't take some responsibility right here and now, who's supposed to pick up the slack? Gene? You?" 

Aisha waved her hand dismissively and said "Gene's a big boy, he can take care of himself. I doubt he can find a job where he'll get paid for getting drunk and lying around reading porno mags, but I'm sure he'll be able to find work on his own." although she silently shuddered at the thought of either Gene or herself managing the books for Starwind & Hawking. 

"So how come you're so immature?" Jim asked. It wasn't quite meant to be an insult, more of an observation on his part. 

She mused over that one for a few seconds and replied "Just making up for lost time! I wasn't much older than you are right now when I went away to the same stuffy, dull academy that my father graduated from." She rolled her eyes for dramatic effect. "It was soooooo boring and far from home, too. Hardly anything to do there for a live wire like me!". Aisha noticed that Jim wasn't as tense and angry and decided to test this "You know, there was something I wanted to show you earlier." She started down the wall. 

As soon as she slid down off of the wall, she felt a small hand ruffling her hair from above. She let out a surprised "Huh?" as she turned around and saw Jim quickly pull back his hand and stifle a laugh. 

"Does this mean I'm forgiven?" she asked with a coy grin on her face. 

Dammit, Jim said to himself- unable to stop smiling. That's the closest her warrior's pride would allow for an apology and he knew it. Almost reflexively, he nodded "yes". "It's about the only time I could reach your head without you noticing!" he added with a big, silly grin. Damn her, he continued musing to himself as he hopped off of the park's wall. Jim was livid until about 20 seconds after Aisha caught up to him, discreetly holding out the olive branch. After yelling at her like that and storming off, he wanted nothing more than to brood, wallow in self-pity and be angry at Aisha, himself, and at life in general, but she had tracked Jim down and took away that opportunity from him. 

The Ctarl Ctarl and boy genius made their way back to the exterior of the arcade Aisha spotted from the park. Each of them was silently hoping that nobody would recognize them after their very loud confrontation earlier. Cynical thoughts were still running around in Jim's head- An arcade? Why is she patronizing me? She's just here for herself. But then again, he had never been to any arcades- either on Heiphong or Sentinel 3, because he was too busy helping out Gene, balancing the books or drumming up business. Maybe he should give it a chance. As soon as he thought that, he felt a hand on his shoulder. 

"Wait a second" Aisha said, pulling a 50 Wong bill from her cloak. "I still owe you this from the track. I still have some money left. You don't have to spend any of your money here if you don't want to, it'll be on me". 

"No way" Jim said, shaking his head. After a good look around, he realized that even if he wasn't as enthusiastic about the games as Aisha was, there were some beautiful specimens of cutting-edge computer technology at his disposal (for a price). He recognized one game that was based on the Space Forces latest flight simulator and spent more than a few wong trying to get the hang of that. However, both Aisha and Jim took a shine to what was a variation of the old Terran game where prizes are grabbed out of a glass-enclosed machine with a claw that's controlled from the outside. Instead of one claw, there were models of 2 grappler ships in the machine that were controlled from the outside and there would be two players using the model ships to battle each other for the prizes. Aisha and Jim spent the better part of 30 Wong each on that particular game- each time it was a stalemate until Jim was finally able to retrieve a small plush stuffed elephant. 

"What are you gonna do with that?" Aisha asked him. Jim didn't seem like the stuffed animal type. 

"I'm not sure. Maybe Melfina will like it..." 

Reflexively, she tousled his hair- she was losing count of how many times she had done that today. "That's so sweet" she said, although she felt a small twinge of envy. Just because she was an immortal Ctarl Ctarl didn't mean that she wasn't interested in starting her own collection of plush stuffed animals. Still, Melfina had been through a lot lately and she probably could appreciate a small gift from him. 

Jim was surprised at how quickly Aisha agreed to leave the arcade, none of her typical pouting was involved. They had spent the better part of 3 hours in there, but otherwise it felt like a complete afternoon. Aisha had to stop by the market- she spent the rest of her money on a sewing kit for her dress as well as new cartridge for her little Game Boy-thing and since she could afford it, a bundle of huge crab legs for dinner- each one of them nearly the size of a baseball bat. Jim was starting to lag- it had been a long day and he was up far earlier than she was. For the last few blocks, Aisha let Jim climb onto her back and ride piggyback the rest of the way. 

"Aisha?" Jim asked a bit drowsily as they were about a block away from home. 

"Hmm?" 

"Please don't tell anyone- especially Gene- that I almost got killed today" 

There was an pang of guilt when he said this. Aisha felt as though she was the one who had placed him in harm's way. If anything truly bad happened to him, if he were killed or maimed, it would've been her own fault, not Jim's she felt. She couldn't live with herself if anything like that had happened. 

"Aisha?" He asked again when she didn't respond right away. 

"Don't worry....My lips are sealed- as long as you don't tell anyone about my stay at the Vertical Bar motel" she said with a wry grin. 

"Deal" Jim said before yawning. "Thanks for taking a bullet for me" 

One bullet was something of an understatement, she mused to herself. "Don't mention it. Better me than you, kiddo."   
  


"Hey Mel!" Aisha yelled out as the 2 of them walked through the front door of Starwind and Hawking Enterprises. She set her new purchases down on the kitchen table and patted Jim's arm which was still wrapped around her neck. "Look what followed me home from the market! Can we keep him?" 

Whatever thoughts that were troubling the bioandroid earlier had evaporated as the 2 of them walked in. She smiled as she watched Jim climb down off of Aisha's back. 

"Hey you two- where have you been? Did you find who you were looking for?" 

"Nah" Jim said, shaking his head. He glanced back at Aisha with a knowing expression. "False alarm- we went to the market and the park instead". Aisha nodded. 

"Oh, well- Gene called. He said he was going to meet with Fred later on tonight and see about getting more supplies..." 

"God- he's not gonna stop hitting up Fred for money until he has to use me as collateral" Jim complained. Aisha almost immediately went to work in the kitchen, dragging out a pot big enough for the crab legs to fit in. 

Jim was trying to ask Melfina if she had any idea when Gene was supposed to return as Aisha fired up the pot and started stuffing the crab legs into it one by one. Of course, Gene didn't tell Melfina when he'd be back because he had no idea how long it would take for Fred to agree to his requests. It was kind of pathetic, but Jim was hard pressed to remember a time when Gene came away from a meeting with Fred empty-handed. 

While preparing her dinner, Aisha gently elbowed Jim. "Don't you have something for Melfina?" she asked as Mel stood within earshot. She handed him the bag she brought home from the market. 

"That's right, I almost forgot..." he said as he managed to fish out the plush elephant he won at the arcade and handed it to the bioandroid. "This is for you Melfina." 

Mel's eyes widened a bit and she smiled. She thought it was very cute- both the toy and the gesture. "Thank you Jim- this is very nice. Did you get this while you were out today?" 

Jim nodded and said "Yeah- both of us lost a few wong at the arcade today." 

Aisha set 3 places at the table and in what seemed like no time, she had finished boiling up the crabs, whipped up some garlic-butter and invited both Mel and Jim to the table. Although the lion's share of dinner was on Aisha's plate, the 2 of them were surprised to find that she had set aside some of the smaller legs on both of their plates. It wasn't much, but for the first time that either of them could remember, Aisha was putting food on their plates instead of taking it off. She felt Jim and Melfina's eyes on her. 

"What?" she asked 

"Are you sure that's all you're having?" Jim asked, pointing at her plate. 

"Of course. This is a recipe I picked up from the seafood resturant I worked at. Go ahead- try it!" 

Jim carefully broke open the spiny shell of the crab's leg in front of him and dipped it in the butter. Mel was trying to pry the shell open using a knife. The crab meat was sweet and of very high quality, and Aisha did a fine job on the garlic butter. The dinner that she whipped up in such a short time met with nods of approval from the boy genius and bioandroid. 

She waited for some sort of body language that would contradict what they just said, such as looking away or picking at their plates, but they went right back to eating. "We Ctarl Ctarls are very adaptive." she said proudly. "This is the first time I've made Terran food for humans. Besides, I don't want to be accused of not pulling my fair share around here y'know...". Simply out of habit, she was trying to pick a verbal fight with Gene even though he wasn't present.   
  


After dinner, Aisha sat down on the steps. She was eager to try out some of those game cartridges she had purchased on the way home. Jim joined her, hoping that the novelty of the new games would wear off and that he'd have a chance to try them. Melfina cleaned up the dining area and went off to bed with her new gift shortly after dinner. 

Aisha was lost in thought. Even if she was unable to relay additional information about the Galactic Leiline back to the Empire, she knew enough about the grappler arms on the XGP15A2 to be of great interest to the Ctarl Ctarl Deep Space Fleet. The systems on the Outlaw Star certainly were state of the art- decades ahead of anything being developed by the Empire. Still, returning with information like that meant she would be coming home a laughingstock instead of a disgrace. With each passing day she found less and less incentive to return to the Empire. Of course she missed her family, but she also feared that she was nothing more than an embarrassment to them now that she had been stripped of the title that she had worked so hard to obtain. 

Never go home again, she pondered. Jim was now lying on his side- almost in the fetal position- lightly snoring, his head resting on her right leg. He had fallen asleep next to her while waiting for his turn to play with her Game Boy. Far worse things could happen, she thought to herself as she gently brushed a lock of hair away from his face. 

As she started drifting off to sleep, Officer Aisha Clan Clan of the Ctarl Ctarl Empire had come to accept that she could never return to her beloved place in the sun. Looking down on her young friend, Aisha couldn't help but smile. However fleeting it might have been, James Hawking had found his place in the sun.   
  


THE END 


	3. Let Sleeping C'tarl C'tarl Lie

_**(Imitating Actor Troy McClure from the Simpsons): Hi. I'm fanfic author breakaway_republic. You might remember me from such fanfics as Kendo Girls Gone Wild and Love Hina Self-Insertion Fic #37. Today, as part my plea-bargain, I'm here to deliver an important public service message....*ahem*....."I don't own Outlaw Star". Thank you.**_

Suzukaarrived back at the offices shortly after Mel, Jim and Aisha had drifted off to sleep. As she quietly fixed herself a cup of oolong tea, she once again looked at the slumped boy genius and Ctarl Ctarl, dozing in one big sprawl on the stairway. The assassin briefly contemplated what sort of day the two of them had that they would fall asleep on the stairs instead of in their respective bed and fouton. Upon closer examination, Suzuka could see that Aisha's dress was riddled with some small holes- consistent with medium caliber bullets or fragmentation grenades. Yet the boy didn't have so much as a paper-cut visible on him. A slight smile played across the kimono-clad woman's lips, realizing what this meant. If they had spent the day apart, Jim was so concerned for his C'tarl C'tarl friend upon seeing the bullet holes in the dress that he wouldn't let her out of his sight. However, if they spent the day together, Aisha most likely got the holes in her dress from protecting the boy-genius. And from all outward appearances, she had done her job well.No matter how different they seemed, their personality traits seemed to compliment each other instead of clash. Twilight Suzuka momentarily pondered how the young James and Aisha seemed to be getting along well in the fairly brief time that they had known each other before stealthily making her way past the two and off to her bed.

  


_**_

To say that Gene arrived late would be something of an understatement. With a few hours to spare before dawn, the tipsy Outlaw staggered into the Starwind & Hawking offices. Tonight's meeting with Fred had gone over exceptionally well. The two of them went out to a bar and over some drinks, Fred had told him something about The Universal Strongman competition. Women were also allowed to compete in this thing as well, and that was what had Fred so concerned. He explained that the reigning champion for the last four years would become his betrothed should she win for a fifth consecutive year. Gene could see where Fred was going with this, but had remained quiet. He didn't want to seem too eager to take the job, otherwise Fred might give a lowball offer.

Naturally, Gene accepted Fred's offer, thinking of Aisha the whole time. _This will be money in the bank! That loud-mouthed cat girl is always boasting how strong and tough she is_ he thought. _Now she can finally put her money where her mouth is._

  


As he staggered his way inside, he could see a green scarf and long braid draped from the staircase. For a second, Gene wondered if Aisha had fallen and injured herself. She stirred from her sleep a little by Gene's approach, but simply rolled over and protectively draped her arm over something instead of waking up. As Gene got closer, he could see it was Jim.

  


_Why that little....._Gene fumed quietly. He glanced around, looking for some crockery to hit his young partner over the head with. _First he does this with Melfina, now Aisha. Why is it when I try it, I'm a lech, but when Jim does it, he's just a cute kid as pure as the driven snow?_

  


Even in his drunken stupor, Gene calmed down a little. His partner was still just a kid, and he realized Jim wasn't quite at the age where he'd be at the mercy of his raging hormones. He thought he should wake up Aisha and tell her about the Strongest Woman in the Universe competition. He figured she'd jump at the chance, but as he reached out to shake her and excitedly blurt out the news, Gene hesitated as he finally got a good look at this young partner with Aisha's arm gently holding him. Fretting over finances, maintenance and weapons for all of his waking moments, Jim now looked very serene in his sleep. 

  


_Tomorrow. _Gene thought as he decided he should sleep if off on the sofa. _I can always tell everyone tomorrow._

  


With that, the C'tarl C'tarl and boy genius continued their tranquil slumber through the night.

  


THE END 

  


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_ Author's note: I originally intended for this fic to take place after the "Between Life and Machine" episode, but before "The Strongest Woman in the Universe"_. _Perhaps Melfina is behaving the way she does in the beginning because she's still haunted by her first face-to-face encounter with Harry McDougal. I made it a point not to mention anything like what happened at the Galactic Leiline, Grave of the Dragon or anything that took place after The Strongest Woman in the Universe competition for the sake of continuity. Except I never really got around to writing this part- enough people seemed to enjoy it as-is. And up until this part, I suppose there's no reason it couldn't be a post-Leiline fic, either. Still, I hope those of you that have read this far have enjoyed it. _


End file.
